Confident Brazil coach names his starting XI

Wednesday 3 May 2006 21.31 EDT
First published on Wednesday 3 May 2006 21.31 EDT

Brazil's coach Carlos Alberto Parreira yesterday confidently named his starting XI for the reigning champions' opening World Cup match against Croatia next month.

Injury and fitness permitting, the line-up will be the same that started Brazil's last competitive match, the World Cup qualifier against Venezuela in October, and include the "magic quartet" of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Adriano and Kaka.

"To start the cup, it will be the quartet," he said. "The team which starts the cup will be the same one which finished the qualifiers. We have to be coherent. Afterwards, during the course of the competition, the results and performances will determine whether or not it's necessary to change."

Brazil began the Venezuela game with Dida in goal and a back four of Cafu, Juan, Lucio and Roberto Carlos. Emerson and Ze Roberto played as the defensive midfielders. Parreira added that Ronaldinho would be allowed to play with the same freedom he enjoys at Barcelona.

"It's absurd to say that he plays differently in the national team and Barcelona because of his positioning. He has complete freedom with Brazil. The difference is that when he plays for his club he has the stage to himself and in the national team he has to divide it with other stars."

Germany, meanwhile, does not expect Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the World Cup. "We have no indication that the Iranian president wants to come to Germany," an interior ministry official, August Hanning, said. "Of course we do have to play our host role, but it's also needless to elaborate some people are more welcome than others."

In April the Iranian football federation said Ahmadinejad might attend, which raised concern about protests. The Iranian squad will receive special security at the World Cup along with the United States, England and Saudi Arabia.